KidBiz3000 (continued...)

In my last post, I mentioned a little bit about my school's effort in the use of KidBiz3000 (a product of Achieve3000), an online non-fiction reading program. Read my last post if you would like to learn more.

It has now been 6 days since I e-mailed my students their first news article, and it has been mostly a success. I say mostly, but not at the fault of KidBiz3000, but at the lack of my students' ability to think critically and write an appropriately formatted e-mail.

However, I continue to see much potential in this program and the doors that could be opened once this program is used in full force. For example, with the constant e-mailing and replying that my students and I are conducting, it almost feels like a wiki in the works. I could give my students a news article to read on KidBiz3000, then post a response question on the classroom wiki and let my students converse, debate, and validate their ideas until their hearts' content. They could further research the topic posed in the article and post their findings for other students to view on the classroom wiki, as well.

I've been so fascinated by the potential of a classroom wiki and can't wait until I get one started. KidBiz3000 might just be my doorway to this new adventure.

KidBiz3000.

My fourth grade students started using the online non-fiction reading program called KidBiz3000 yesterday. It's a website in which students access with a username and password. They receive a current news article in their mailbox by the teacher. The article is tailored to each child's specific reading level (which is determined with a reading pre-assessment). They are then required to reply back to the teacher by answering a question that is related to the article. After they reply, they then read the article and complete a few tasks, which inlude a quick multiple choice activity, a short response, and a class poll. The students also have the option of playing various games, completing a math activity, reading funny jokes, and solving puzzles. This is all conducted within the website which students can access from any computer. Pretty neat stuff!

The school complex that I work in purchased the program for each elementary school at the beginning of the year (as a three year contract). We tried implementing KidBiz3000 at the beginning of the year, but the company's servers weren't ready to handle our large school population, so there were many bugs to work out.

Another neat feature for teachers and administrators (although it could also be a downfall) is that teachers have complete access to student behaviors within the program. I am able to check whether each of my students has completed all tasks, when exactly they completed each individual task, and at what level they completed the task. Students also have the option to e-mail each other (as this time, I have that feature disabled though) and I am able to view all e-mails that are being sent to all students.

Our technology department, after countless hours of communication with the company, felt the program was ready at the beginning of the second quarter. So my grade level and I decided to give KidBiz3000 article assignments as homework. They have to complete all tasks with in a two week period. We're taking this new venture really slow, because, as teachers, we're not sure what to expect from the students. I think, later in the year, we'll assign articles to be completed in a shorter amount of time.

As I previously stated, my students started their first article last night for homework. I haven't checked my mailbox yet to read any student replies, but I'm really excited to do so! I love the endless possiblities of integrating technology into the classroom and I'll definitely give anything a try. I'll keep my blog updated as we continue with KidBiz3000.

Require teachers to work without pay? I don't think so.

Star Bulletin (Nov. 7, 2008): DOE pitches 6-day closure to cut spending

Our faithful superintendent, Pat Hamamoto, proposes that the DOE require employees to work for four days for free in order to save money next year. A boss should never suggest that his or her employees work for free. That is horrible work ethic.

Another proposal is to take away all teacher work days, rather, professional development days. Not only are we already facing a loss of professional development (workshops, guest speakers, conferences, etc.) due to budget cuts, but now we might lose our only days in which we can have professional development. How does the DOE expect us to improve our quality of teaching if they take away our time to make those improvements?

What made me laugh hysterically was that Pat Hamamoto said that her favorite plan was the "work for free" plan. Because we should dedicate our time to helping our students whether we get paid or not. I'm all for helping my students succeed, but I need to be able to afford my bills first if I'm going to direct my attention towards my students.

I'm eager to see how this plays out with the union and fellow educators. Might we have another strike on our hands...?